Dodge Ram Real World MPG Numbers

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Have a 2010 Dodge Ram 2500 turbo diesel. Initially got slightly over 20 MPG interstate highway, & 10 MPG towing. When I inquired about towing mileage, was told it would increase after ca. 30K miles. Somewhere after ca. 10K miles, highway MPG dropped by 20% [to ca. 16MPG], & towing MPG dropped to ca. 7.5. Do not believe this is characteristic of the Cummins engine. Had the truck to 2 different dealers and they find nothing wrong. Trying to get a response frim Chrysler.

City mileage is horrible with the HEMI, IMO it's, because with all the stop and go I'll bet it it seldom goes into 4 cylinder mode. My suburban driving, with an '09,equipped just like yours, is a tad less than 16MPG - and that's with being very careful all the time: gradual accelerations, lots of coasting to stops, etc. Use the HEMI power and the MPG drops a bunch. The cylinder deactivation does help, but a light throttle and probably at least 40MPH is required for it to work. If anyone knows for sure when these things go into 4 cylinder mode - please share. I do know that once into MDS, it will downshift under light loading rather than go back to 8 cylinders. Just my $.02...Richard

You can feel in going into MDS because between these speeds the engine lugs a bit and the RPM's drop. You have to push down on the gas peddle to pop it out of it. Most drivers probably wont even notice it but I can.

Dodge doesnt put out a lot about their MDS (not sure why) because a lot of people ask this same question. You'd think it would be all over the place, again, not sure why not since its a nice benefit for a large engine.

p.s. You get your best mileage between 40 mph & 60 mph anyway. Below 40 mph you are using gas to get up to speed and over 60 mph you are working against wind resistance.

My son has a Honda Odyssey with MDS, and the Honda has a light that activates to show when it's running on less than 6 cylinders. How hard would it be for Dodge to do the same - or put it in the info center right in the middle of the instruments?

I also have a 2010 2500 HD Cummins. Auto/4:10 4X4. It is sad that they get poor mpg. It is not necessarily the Cummins, which has the capability of way better, but the EPA and chryslers programing. I bought a monster and one "COMPUTER UPGRADE" at the dealership and all was lost! Their claim is that it operates within normal parameters. I contacted Chrysler customer support {if you can call it that} and they pretty much blew me off. They said I was stuck with it and it couldn"t be reprogrammed back to default settings.I went from 17 to 15.5 mpg average. I calculate miles driven divided by gallons, NOT the mpg indicator on the dash, also called the LIE-O-METER. I was told when it breaks in it will improve but 36K later it has not. I am a heavy duty sales rep and drive ALOT. I call on many diesel engine builders and they saythat the tolerances are built into the engine. They are what they are, and from that point on it is wear. A break in period is no more than 5K miles to SEAT the moving parts together' IE: rings/cam etc. The main culprit of fuel economy is the Diesel Particulate Filter, or DPF. There is a sensor before and after it. When the DPF starts to get congested the sensors send a signal to the ECM and the injectors activate on the exhaust stroke sending raw fuel into the exhaust stream. This increases EGT's and cleans out the DPF. Unfortunatly it also contaminates your oil at the same time. I have watched this very carefully and paid close attention to the way it seems to operate. This is my experience.---You probably sometimes notice a HOT smell near the rear of the vehicle if you happen to stop while the RE-GEN is in progress. You also probably also notice the aforementioned LIE-O-METER make a drastic reduction in the instant MPG reading. This regeneration,as it is called, at least in my vehice lasts 15 minutes at speeds over 40 mph almost to the second and happens every 1.5 to 2.5 hours of operation depending on the topography of the area and driving conditions at the time. I happen to do my driving in western Washington state in the Puget Sound region. This one operation consumes ALOT of fuel! I have been told between 4 and 5 gallons per tank. Next time you fill up subtract that from gallons delivered into your tank and divide it into the mikes driven and that is what you could get. Another culprit is the EGR. It sends between 5 and 30% of exhaust,- HOT- gasses BACK into the air intake stream. That is SOOT! Raw carbon, one of the hardest substances known to man being sucked right into your engine. Take that cross-over tube that is in front of the engine off and have a good look! I have done oil analysis and found that the it shows signs of soot contamination at around 4500 miles. I change mine at 4000 because of that. Personally I use 76 GUARDOL and a BALDWIN BT7349 filter. This is also HOT air. We all know that more efficient combustion happens with cooler air. Thats why we buy cold air intake systems and have intercoolers! Dont believe the claims of these so-called tuners. They will give you more power at the cost of your injectors, and maybe a little better mpg. They trick the lie-o-meter to showing fantastic readings. I have also learned that all injectors are NOT all the same. They do not all have the exact same pattern or flow. I understand they can be blueprinted which is said to have favorable results. These are my findings. If I am wrong and you are a professional, by all means, let me know. I do like the rig and plan on having it for a long time and want to take the best care of it that I can. FRENCHY5

Just drove a new 2010 dodge 1500 5.7 in suburban streets mds was kicking in at 30 mph cruising on highway 70 mph cruise.I drove chevy,ford and now the dodge.Ford felt loose and cheap inside,chevy has no torque and small crew cab,I am going with dodge and its proven 5.7,I have seen posts of people getting over 20 mpg.The ride is great,big inside a crew cab,only downside is 5.7feet box.Ford is more money and their engines are brand new

I have had this vehicle since AUG it was a Dealer retired DEMO with 3K miles I now have 14255 Miles and my AVG MPG is still at 16.43 (manually Calculated) on higways I get 16.7 MPG in City I get 12 MPG. If I hit a small upgrade on the Higway, forget it I lose power and mileage dips at 14 MPG (according to my CPU display).

Oh by the way I am not towing.. Not too pleasing. my dealer says I am not to expect much because of the high alttudes in SLC, UT. I can't beleive that. I use 91 Octane to get these Fuel mileage. 85 Octane kills my power and I use more fuel driving. I don't have a heavy foot and I believe let the power and torque do the driving but I have to stay at 70 MPH to keep that power and momentum going when I hit an upgrade on the highway, in the city forgrt it no power and torque 2500 RPMs just to maintain.

I got rid of my Chevy 2500 Duramax because of fuel mileage (16.7 MPG) went gas and I see the only advantage was I save money on fuel costs. Maybe I should had bought the Cummins and dealt with the fuel prices.....

Is any one else experiencing this or am I expecting too much from Dodge...

I had a 2009 ram 1500 crew cab 4x2 with about exact same milage your experiencing. But when added any weight mpg would drop dramatically. I do mostly city driving in Miami, traded, ram in for a duramax after one year. Much happier with the ride mpg city has averaged at 14.8 , highway 16.9mpg. Worst than the mpg on ram was the giggly ride anytime you went over a bump, and hated the navigation.

Sounds about right bro. On the 4x4, you will also get about 1 mpg less than a 2x4 so 16 to 17 mpg sounds actually pretty good to me overall. My 2007 5.7 HEMI with MDS gets an average of 15 mpg (1/2 city and 1/2 highway) on a good week, NO towing or hauling [non-permissible content removed] around town either!!

If you have the factory towing package, the rear gearing is probably geared for towing lessening your mpg. Might also be the same on the 4x4?

If your looking for real good mileage, dont look for it in a full sized truck, doesnt exist "yet". Even the midside trucks dont get much better, maybe 20 mpg overall if your lucky.

You're right. When moving nearly 3 tons with truck aerodynamics and 390HP, there simply is no magic formula. I believe that on strict highway cruise at less than 70 MPH, these trucks can surpass 20MPG - but on anything else, forget it. The GM hybrid trucks are capable of getting better city mileage than other full size trucks, but they are not cheap. If you use your truck for commuting and other things where you really don't need a truck, get a cheap economy car for that stuff. Gas is headed to $4-5 a gallon and a couple $100+ fillups per week in our trucks won't be pretty.

I've talked to three others with 2009 & 2010 Ram 1500s and we seemed to be getting the same results for gas mileage on the 5.7 Hemi. In August my YTD average was 18.4 MPG on my 2010 Ram 1500 Big Horn Quad, two-wheel drive, 3.91 LSD and 20 inch wheels. Since the cold weather and snow it's down to 17.04. The MPG has defintely dropped in winter, with my lowest at 14.45 so far. Keep in mind my daily work comute is 3.1 miles and I see mostly around town driving. My three trips from Rochester to Gettysburg, PA, gave me 20.63, 21.13, and 20.86, all summertime trips. Considering the power of the Hemi, I really don't think that's too bad.

I started this post years ago. I own a 2006 dodge ram megacab 2500 hemi 4x4 with the 411 rear end. I now have 35000 miles on it . I just took a 300 mile trip set the cruise at 75 mph and held a great mpg at 12.3. This is the usual. Icant get any better I just tell it how it is. The hemi loves to guzzle gas. If there was anything I could do to get better gas mpg im sure I have tried it any suggestions? Oh I also added a cold air intake and use full synthetic oil.

A few tips to improve your mileage: 1. Never drive over 65MPH 2. Swap the 4.11 for a 3.55 3. When in the city or burbs, coast up to stop signs and red lights 4. If you have a remote starter, don't use it - while your truck is warming up it's getting 0MPG 5. Forget about all the claims to improve mileage with air cleaners, exhausts, etc., if any of these were any good, Dodge would have put them on your truck to start withThese will improve your mileage, but are a real pain in the **s. For every 10K miles a year that you put on your truck, you're burning 800 gallons of gas. At $4/gal, that's $3200. If you do 1500 miles/mo, that's almost $500/mo. just for gas. $200/mo leases for economy cars are everywhere. Good luck....Richard

I'm from Germany and even though gas prices are incomparably higher than in the US (about 8 $/gal) I am thinking about getting a RAM 1500 4x4 Crew Cab in the Laramie edition. I know that the gas miliage will cost me a fortune but considering the "cheap" price of the vehicle compared to similarily equipped cars in Germany I will probably still be better off in the end. HOWEVER, it is spread in the news that Dodge has signed a contract with the German automotive supplier and technology leader for transmissions, ZF, to equip future Dodge models with the new 8-speed automatic transmission which is the same model as used in the BMW 7-series or the Rolls Woyce Ghost. According to the news articles I found, the RAM 1500 is also going to be among those privileged cars to be equipped with the new transmission. ZF claims to gain a gas milage improvement on the RAM of at least 25 %! That would almost make the 1500 into a economic car. I'll wait to see if the RAM is really gonna get the transmission before I get one... I'm excited to see any progress to actually make those trucks more efficient!What do you think of the announced transmission, especially if used in the Dodge trucks?

The 8 speed ZF is, no doubt, a better tranny than the current 5-speed in the Ram. I would expect a mileage improvement, but their claims of over 25% seem overblown. Truck aerodynamics are poor and anything over 110KPH will absolutely kill fuel economy - regardless of the gearing. So gearing the Ram very high to make use of all those speeds in the ZF would not seem to work as good as in a more aerodynamic car. With the Ram, you need to be in top gear with the MDS engaged to get the best mileage. If the ZF allows top gear by 100KPH or so, 7 more gears below that speed seem redundant, especially considering the torque of the HEMI. Just my $.02....Richard

Now that the weather has warmed up, the mileage on my '09 HEMI ( 4WD, Quad cab, 20" wheels ) has also risen - it really seems to like the warmer temps. While it struggled to get even 14 MPG during the winter months, it's getting over 15 MPG now. Small town/suburban driving with almost no freeway time - although about half the driving is country roads in the 45-55MPH range. One thing I have learned is that in order to keep the MDS engaged and to avoid downshifts on slight grades on these country roads, I will not use the cruise control. Instead, I allow the speed to drop slightly in order to keep MDS and 5th gear engaged. When in cruise, the truck will hold its speed by downshifting, and that hurts the MPG. Keep truckin'!

I traded in my 2010 1500 RAM because my fuel mileage was 15 MPG while driving in High RPM on MDS. I went ahead and decided to trade it in for a 2011 Ram 2500 4x4 4dr Crew cab, thinking that I would get the better mileage and durability on the engine, also I missed my old diesel truck which I traded that in for the 1500. I am at 5118 miles on the 2500 which I am getting 13.8 MPG I drive mostly highways and it is perplexing. These new 6.7s are not what they are cracked up to be not sure what I can do. Thank you Mr OBAMA..... I miss my 5.9...

With the 6.7, the only axle that will give you good mileage is the 3.42 - and the trade-off there is loss of towing ability. Plus the new trucks are much heavier... my 2005 Ram 3500 Quad Cab dually weighs 1000 pounds more than my 1996 Ram 3500 Club Cab dually did. A 2011 Ram 3500 Crew Cab dually would add another couple hundred pounds.

your right these new 6.7's engines do suck [non-permissible content removed] i miss my 06 mega cab cummins that gave me 19 mpg and your lucky your getting 13.8 cause in my 2010 2500 laramie mega cab 4x4 gives me 9.8 mpg and if im lucky and drive good it gives me 10.3, i think it gives me that cause of the 35's tires i have on it but it should not suck that much and besides that it has no balls as the old one. My 06 gave me mid 13's or 14 flat at the track better than a mustang and the same as a camaro with a programer and this ***** dont even do 20's maybe at the track its really heavy and slow and it sucks at the beach 2. The only good thing about this truck is that no matter where i park it theres always people telling me how badass the truck is but thats about it. Its the best looking truck out there in the market ill give it that but the rest IDK

I now have around 6200 Miles and I am stuck on 13.8 MPG +/- .4 MPG. I checked and I have the 3.42 Transmission. Boy I am sooo glad I don't have the other one. I am taking my truck to the dealership this weekend to have the computer checked out and see if there is a malfunction in there.

I Spoke with several Diesel owners of all makes at the pump, since my last post. The ones that own or owned deisels with the particulate filter in the exhaust system tells the same story, BAD fuel mileage.. Some claim that had clogging quite frequently. 3 owners I spoke with went to the other brands that has the DEF system and thier fuel mileage was much better around 16 MPG avg. The other owners that has the particulate filter disonnected thiers (I know it is illegal in most places) and they got MUCH better fuel mileage. One of the owners I spoke with claims they are getting nearly 18 MPG on the highway, The other one had chipped his diesel and did the breather and the exhaust with the monitor on the dash. He claims he is getting 19 MPG.. ???? not sure I can believe that, but that's what he had told me. Bottom line, my conclusion is the amount of additional fuel dollars that we use in our RAMS it is cheaper to have a vehicle that uses DEF fluid every 5K at approximately 30 dollars a fill up, to get better MPG.

The problem with the 6.7 cummins mileage is that it has more emissions equipment than the 5.9. Not only does the extra Cat and DPF create much more restriction in airflow, but the DPF uses what is called active regeneration where the engine goes into "rich mode". In rich mode the engine completely eliminates all oxygen from the exhaust to raise the temperature in the exhaust drastically to burn off the soot trapped in the DPF. While it makes the engine "greener" if hurts gas mileage tremendously. Although Dodge brags about not using Urea injection, it has actually proven to be a great help to fuel economy in the DPF world. An option would be to remove the DPF and go with straight pipes. But this would void any factory warranty and technically make it illegal for street use, and also require a tuner to adjust the engines ECU to keep it from trying to go into regen mode. So basically damned if you do, damned if you don't. But it is an option none the less, and if you don't hammer on it too hard, it wont produce much black smoke, making it harder to detect as a DPF delete.

That is a very good point in your last statement, I have done exactly that the last few days and I noticed a slight increase in my fuel mmileage especially when it is running HOT. I was easy on the fuel pedal more than normal on my previous vehicles and I had noticed an increase decrease in fuel consumption I travel on hilly roade I was averaging about 2 MPG better fuel mileage. (previous MPG AVG 14.6).

I was also thinking and playing around with my start up idle when the vehicle has been siiting overnight. I am experimenting with letting the vehicle IDLE for 10 or minutes before going on the road. I used to let my truck idle for no mor than 5 minutes and that was just not working. However I noticed a slight decrease in fuel consumption when I drove for 10 or 15 minutes, stop for a breakfast sandwhich in the morning and then start up my truck again, my consumption on the digital reader was showing a much higher reading around 16-17 MPG reading oppose to 13-14 reading and the truck felt like it have more power as well. All of my roads here are hilly I live in N.Utah not much flat land around here. Maybe it is my imagination but it does feel different somehow, so that is why I am experimenting on the longer idle theory.

After research for mpg and towing,motor,ride,came up with new dodge ram ! Taken lots of trips ! After driving 67 mph,average 20mpg at fill up,read out was 21mpg !Another trip 19 and 18 going 76mph,all trips with a/c on ! This is my tow truck with 5.7 hemi,4 wheel drive,and 3.92 axle ratio !! This is the truck !!! Checked all trucks out, and new more about them than most of the sale people ! Some of the larger 8cy. are getting better mpg than smaller 8cy.!Some axle ratio will give no more towing than small trucks ! Know about the truck before you buy !

Cobrazera ,It goes into eco 4 cy. at regular driving too ! Took a trip to western NC , 6/16/11,to pick up our new travel trailer ! Got 20 mpg again !! Trailer weights over 7000 lbs unloaded so will weight around 8000 loaded ! Only got 8.5 towing in tow haul & 4th gear but pleased in the towing ! Has a higher tow rating with 17in. tires(which I have) than 20in. tires ! The truck has been a good surprise so far !!!

Wow - that's abysmal towing MPG! I towed a 10,000lb enclosed car hauler ( actual weight on certified scales ) between MI and FL on three separate occasions with an '01 Tahoe and got about 11MPG. My Ram does better in normal driving than the Tahoe did, and has much more power, so I'm really surprised at your towing mileage. I cruised at 65MPH, was your speed faster? Is it a travel trailer or a tall 5th wheel? Do you have the 3.92 gears? Thx for the post and enjoy your trailer!

Just turned 30,000 miles yesterday and been in service since May 2nd, 2010.

To-Date total average is 17.31. Lowest ever recorded was 10.20 mpg towing a Ford tractor on a three axle trailer, total weight approx. 9100 lbs. Daily trip to work is 3.2 miles.

Highest recorded so far is 23.66 mpg on a trip through the hills of central New York State, all on state roads and posted speeds. Five trips to Gettysburg, PA (335 mile trip) yielded 19.71, 20.03, 20.19, 21.5, 14.96. Last trip I pulled a 12 foot Uhaul box trailer, that's why is significantly lower.

June 2011 average 18.21 mpg, May average 20.76, and April was 17.48. May had two road trips. All gas mileage reported is manually computed using distance travelled and actual gallons used. I have found the EVIC to indicate higher and lower gas mileage most of the time, on one occasion as much as 1.4 MPG different than actual. After 91 fill-ups the EVIC has reported lower average gas mileage 38 times, and agreed with the hand calculated figure only eleven times. I have had the odometer checked and it indicates 98.9 miles for 100 miles driven (although the speedometer matches the radar checks perfectly).

After talking to over a dozen Ram 1500 owners, it appears that a little more than half are realizing roughly the same results as mine, but I'm not sure if they monitor this as closely as I do. I've only talked to one other individual that hand calulates the gas mileage as a check of the EVIC.

Because I tow less than 1% of the time and 70-90 percent of my driving is suburban and cross town, the 3.92 axle ratio works very well for me (in 2010, LSD was only available in 3.92). I think those of you with the 3.55 ratio are under more of a penalty if you do a lot of stop-and-go driving. At a steady 55 MPH on flat level ground I can keep the the Hemi in ECO and the EVIC bar above the 22 MPG mark, probably because the slightly elevated RPM at that speed reduces the load factor on the engine. If you spend more time on the four lane and interstates the 3.55 or maybe the 3.23 is a better choice.

To answer someones question, on mine selecting Tow/Haul Mode automatically drops the engine out of ECO.

Thx for the info on the Tow/Haul switch. I bought my 2009 Quad cab 4WD HEMI, with 20" wheels and 3.55 gears last November. It was lightly used with 15K miles. I reset the EVIC at that time and it reads 16.8 MPG now. Short trips are an MPG killer as is winter driving, but mix in some cruise time in 4 Cylinder mode and the truck does better than I had expected. Very pleased with the HEMI " economy ".

From what I can tell, the vast majority of people are relying on the vehicle computer's version of miles per gallon. Maybe that's why some are much lower or much higher. Heck, the Chevy/GMC guys really believe they get 22-25 MPG on their trucks, yet you'll find that the system operayes the same and is prone to the same inconsistencies.

I travel with a fellow towing ATVs, and although he's convince his Silverado gets much better gas milage" than a Ram or F150, I've taken note on how many gallons his takes when we fill up. In each case he's taken more fuel.

Gearing can make a difference, and driving technique definitely plays a major role. You might also be surprised on how much your odometer is off, especially if you've installed new tires. Higher tire air pressures reduce rolling resistance, and increase tire diameter which affects the odometer reading.